Enough Tolerance

Rabbi Assaf Harnoy,
Post-Graduate Beit Midrash for Torah and Leadership, Jerusalem

Tolerance is a very good characteristic. It means to be patient while on the road and in a queue in a store, and at home it is a great trait which every person should pursue.However, there are times when tolerance is not a virtue – there are circumstances and events where tolerance is not the best option.

How often do we show tolerance to ourselves when we don't wake up as soon as the alarm clock rings? How often do we show tolerance for the fact that we arrived late for the daily prayers? How often do we show tolerance for not eating the healthiest foods, and how much tolerance do we show for our own bad traits in general, which should be worked on and improved?

A tolerant person, by definition, is one who can accept difficulties. He can show acceptance and cope with delays in many different realms and matters. However, there are times when what is needed is more care and a sense of haste. There are times when we show tolerance for something even though we should not be tolerant at all!

Oppressed in Egypt

For many long years, Bnei Yisrael performed heavy labor in Egypt. In the beginning, when the oppression began, we may assume that there protests and resistance against this process. It stands to reason that the transition from respected citizens who lived in the land of Goshen, which was good and inviting, to a status of slaves engaged in heavy labor could not have been accepted at first without some objections. However, as years passed, Bnei Yisrael became accustomed to the harsh suppression in Egypt. Generation after generation, from father to son, the people began to "understand and accept" that this was their fate, and this the way they were meant to live for all the generations to come. Waking up every morning into a harsh regime of slavery must have been difficult and bad, but any attempts to change the situation were completely beyond the scope of the thoughts of these people.

To put it another way – Bnei Yisrael learned to be patient and tolerant. As time went by, year after year, they became accustomed to the situation and they accepted the harsh conditions. When Moshe finally came to redeem them from Egypt, they "did not listen to Moshe, because of impatience and because of the harsh labor" [Shemot 6:9].

The first and greatest miracle that the Holy One, Blessed be He, performed for Bnei Yisrael was the fact the He "took them out from the'tolerance' of Egypt" [6:7]. The Holy One, Blessed be He, changed the people, so that they would no longer tolerate the existing oppression. He caused the people to wake up and understand that they were tolerant in a situation where this was not a good trait. He pushed them into eliminating their acceptance and their tolerance for oppression, and that brought hope for change and a desire for redemption.

They Sighed – the Beginning of the Redemption

According to Chidushei HaRim, the beginning of the redemption took place when the people let out a great sigh and a cry against the oppression. That was it. They were no longer able to tolerate the harsh labor, they no longer had any patience, and therefore they cried out to G-d. "And Bnei Yisrael sighed because of the labor, and they cried out. And their cries rose up to G-d" [2:23].

Cautious Tolerance

Each and every one of us has some good traits that should be developed and maintained, and we also have traits and behavior patterns which we should improve and fix.

One of the important points that can be learned from this week's Torah portion is the need to wake up and cry out against our patient acceptance of the negative things. First and foremost, and this is the most important insight, we must realize that just as the trait of tolerance is good with respect to many positive realms, it can also be dangerous and harmful with respect to negative things. The redemption from Egypt began first of all with the rejection of the trait of tolerance – that is, the rejection of the tolerance for the oppression which the people had learned to accept.

As is true for all of the characteristics of the soul, every person from Yisrael must learn to channel the trait of tolerance to its proper place. This would be patience and tolerance on the road and in the street, patience in the family and in the relationship between a couple – in all of these cases, this trait should be practiced expansively and in a large measure. However, there are times when the right thing to do is to limit this trait. Self-tolerance of improper behavior, which we should work at to improve, is not a good thing. In such cases we must act promptly and not be tolerant, and then we can hope for salvation.